Denarius; Crawford 452/4
MINT MOVING WITH CAESAR: 9, 48-47BCE. Female head (rt.), wearing oak wreath, cruciform earring and pearl necklace (Pietas is the canonical citing, Sear argues it’s Clementia). LII (52) behind. Reverse with Gallic trophy holding oval shield and carnyx above bearded captive (Vercingetorix?) seated, right leg extended with the foot upraised, hands tied, “CAE–SAR” across middle of field. A rarity. Cr. 452/4. Sydenham 1010. BMC 3959. RSC 19a. The second most elusive Caesar military denarius, see next (our number 5, Cr. 452/5), for this coin’s companion piece which is the only military issue in silver that is even rarer. Crawford, 1983 (pg. 467) notes less than 30 obv. dies and less than 33 rev. dies, but the long gaps between appearances of this type at auction suggests that the numbers may be much less than 30 and 33. Sear attributes the coinage (of 452/4 and 452/5) to a secondary mint and considering the infrequency with which the coins are encountered, he might be right. Near extremely fine, silvery white with a skin of light gray and a contrasting splash of light gold surrounding the designs on both sides. A coin of particularly beautiful style (a goddess that actually looks like a babe), sharp, well centered (19.5 mm. 3.81 grams) and seldom seen at all, especially in such exemplary condition. Ex–CNG, (NY, Triton IX, lot 1331, $10,350 in Jan. 2006) characterized by them as “extremely rare.”. Item #358
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